ESSAY: How many students there are in Hogwarts?
by Neilicca
Summary: An essay on the amount of students in Hogwarts and what that means to the whole wizarding population. Constructive criticism and opinions on the topic are appreciated!


There has been much debate over how many young wizards go to Hogwarts. Due to the size of the castle and some (arguably misleading) statements the most popular amount would be somewhere around a thousand. On the other hand, some have reasoned the amount to be significantly smaller, only about three hundred*.

I find both of these theories equally troublesome for their effects on the functionality of the school and the earth's wizarding population as a whole.

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If there would be only a few hundred students, it would mean that the wizarding population as a whole would be hauntingly small. If the fertility rates are anywhere nearby identical in both magical and non-magical mothers, the population can be easily calculated by looking at the population's distribution by age. Because the books are set in the then, I used statistics from 1990**.

In 1990, roughly 11% of the UK population were between ages 11 and 17. If there were three hundred students in Hogwarts, and that would be the only wizarding school in the country, the entire UK wizarding population would be about 2730. This would support the popular theory of 1:20 000 magical non-magical ratio, but it would be very dysfunctional.

There'd be only about 300 000 wizards on this planet, and would've been rapidly less in times when our population was under a billion (19th century). If magic truly is scattered among all ethnicities, and the gene(s) are somewhat recessive***, either half of the population would have been wizards back then or this is plain just wrong.

Another good example is the Quidditch World Cup. If there really were thousands of people in the audience, judging by the movie and the book's description at least 20 000, it would mean a considerable 7% of the entire wizarding world was at the spot. Plausible, yes. But highly unlikely considering the prize of the tickets, travel and accommodation. On the other hand the apparent monopoly status of the teeny tiny Diagon Alley and especially Gingotts bank supports the theory that there would in fact be only a handful of wizards around.

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When asked how many students there were in Hogwarts, Rowling said "About a thousand". Because this statement contradicts with almost the whole cinematic world and many instances in the books (such as very small common rooms, the amount of teachers and the size of the great hall), it has received a lot of criticism over the years. On Rowling's defense, she did not think about the numbers when writing, and has said she's not that good in doing the math.

If in 1990 there were 1000 students in Hogwarts, that'd mean there are 9100 wizards in the UK and a little under one million in the entire world. At first glance that amount seems realistic - it would allow numerous small towns to form, but the community would be small enough to not draw attention. On the other hand, with amount like that managing Hogwarts would be very challenging.

There are fifteen subjects**** in Hogwarts, which some (such as apparition) don't require a specifically appointed teacher. Hogwarts has give or take thirteen teachers, a headmaster, two janitors, and a few nurses. This would mean there are twenty adults in charge of a thousand adolescents. Also, one class would consist of about a hundred students, which is impossible from the size of the classrooms to the quality of the teaching.

Some may argue that there are more teachers and students in the school that are mentioned in the books. For this thousand-theory to be plausible, we would have to assume the latter. Unfortunately, it is a lot more complicated it comes to the teachers. For example, when Harry says he has potions, there's an automatic assumption that Snape will be teaching. Also, when depicting the teacher's table at the Great Hall, Harry might mention the many of already known teachers in a very specific order, leaving little to the imagination. If there truly were more teachers, why hasn't there been a single class or even a mention about them?

A more compelling argument is the important status of the twenty-four***** prefects. Why would a group of older students be so significant that they were given their own bathroom and other privileges, if they didn't play a vital role in keeping order in Hogwarts? If prefects were counted in, there'd be 40 people in charge, and only 25 students per person. Because Hogwarts is a boarding school, and some of the students are so young they truly need around the clock supervision, I'd say 40 people would be there and there enough. With both Snape and Percy patrolling the cellars at night, I'd feel a lot safer as a young Slytherin.

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**What do you think is the right model for wizarding population? Why?**

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**Sources and notes: (Apparently links are an impossibility, so these are nearly-valid explanations. Sorry.)**

* Fanfiction .org's "Populating Wizarding America" by Dr. Playtypus  
AND  
Beyond Hogwarts .com's "How many kids there are at Hogwarts" by David Haber

** populationpyramid .net's united-kingdom in 1990

*** There are multiple alleles in the magic locus, which of one is definitely dominant, but the others necessarily are not. Contrary of popular belief, children born to muggle-wizard parents are also often squibs. The allele causing the wand-type magical abilities might very well be recessive, since two muggles carrying that gene usually have more non-magical than magical children. I think I'll write another essay on this.

**** Harry Potter Wikia Hogwarts_subjects

***** Harry Potter Wikia Prefect


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